Narrative:

The ground crew pushed us off of a terminal a gate with the nose on the taxi line facing northeast. We received taxi instructions from san antonio ground to taxi via north; right turn on G; left turn on runway 4; hold short runway 30 left. Just after starting our taxi; ground control told us to give way to another aircraft taxiing south on G. At this point I looked to my right and saw signage for taxiway G and straight-ahead appeared to be a taxiway; as it aligned with west on the other side and there was a missing taxiway light which gave the illusion that this was a taxiway. This is a paved surface and not painted green as we normally see for non-stressed areas on the airport. Just after exiting the ramp and entering the area that I perceived to be an active taxiway; the first officer noted that there was a taxiway light on the other side and commanded me to stop the aircraft and I immediately complied. We notified ground that we would not be able to continue taxiing and would require ramp assistance to move the aircraft. The ramp crew pushed us back to the gate and told us that this same scenario had occurred two weeks earlier. We coordinated with mx control to conduct an aircraft inspection to determine that there was no damage to the aircraft. I think perhaps labeling the taxiway coming off the ramp to north and including that as part of the taxi instruction might be helpful1 (i.e. N1 north). I mistakenly thought that I was on north after the pushback; which I feel was a contributing factor to this incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier pushed from SAT Terminal A with taxi instructions N; right on G; left on Runway 4 hold short of Runway 30. Flight crew was confused; thinking his aircraft was on Taxiway N; and they taxied into the non-movement area between Taxiways G and G1 aligned with Taxiway W. Poor lighting and Taxiway N1 signage were contributing factors.

Narrative: The Ground Crew pushed us off of a Terminal A Gate with the nose on the taxi line facing northeast. We received taxi instructions from San Antonio Ground to taxi via N; right turn on G; left turn on Runway 4; hold short Runway 30 Left. Just after starting our taxi; Ground Control told us to give way to another aircraft taxiing south on G. At this point I looked to my right and saw signage for Taxiway G and straight-ahead appeared to be a taxiway; as it aligned with W on the other side and there was a missing taxiway light which gave the illusion that this was a taxiway. This is a paved surface and not painted green as we normally see for non-stressed areas on the airport. Just after exiting the ramp and entering the area that I perceived to be an active taxiway; the FO noted that there was a taxiway light on the other side and commanded me to stop the aircraft and I immediately complied. We notified Ground that we would not be able to continue taxiing and would require ramp assistance to move the aircraft. The Ramp Crew pushed us back to the gate and told us that this same scenario had occurred two weeks earlier. We coordinated with MX Control to conduct an aircraft inspection to determine that there was no damage to the aircraft. I think perhaps labeling the taxiway coming off the ramp to N and including that as part of the taxi instruction might be helpful1 (i.e. N1 N). I mistakenly thought that I was on N after the pushback; which I feel was a contributing factor to this incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.